Browns Film Room: How did Terrelle Pryor have his big day?

The Cleveland Browns lost their twelfth game of the season on Sunday, falling to the New York Giants, 27-13. The Browns once again missed opportunities and performed too many mistakes to win the game, but not all was bad in the loss.

One of the brightest spots for the Browns was receiver Terrelle Pryor. Pryor caught six passes for 131 yards in the loss. Following his big performance, Pryor was ripped by Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins. After saying Pryor was “just big” before the game, Jenkins followed his pre-game comments with disparaging thoughts about Pryor, including saying, “u really sucks” and that Pryor’s performance was aided by zone defense.

Jenkins was not impressed by Pryor to say the least. So, how did Pryor produce such a big day? In this week’s film room, I will examine each of Pryor’s six catches, looking at how the young receiver was successful on each play. Is Jenkins right or is he blowing smoke? (Spoiler alert, he is wrong and is completely downplaying the performance of Pryor.) Let’s take a look.

Browns Film Room Series: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11

Q1 4:11: 14-yard reception

In this play, Terrelle Pryor is lined up in the right slot against the zone coverage of the Giants. He is called to run a curl route about 15 yards down field. Pryor gets off the line and around the underneath defender. Once past the defender, Pryor turns his head back to the quarterback and settles into the gap in the zone. He finishes off the play by coming back to the ball when the pass is thrown, not allowing the defenders in zone coverage to close on him while he makes the catch. Pryor makes an easy catch for 14 yards.

Q2 0:45: 22-yard reception

In this play, Pryor is lined up on the right side just a few feet away from the end of the offensive line. The Giants are in zone coverage with two deep safeties over top. Pryor is designed to run a post route with the cut happening just over ten yards down field. Pryor runs hard up field and makes a hard slant cut inside. He turns his head toward the quarterback when he makes the cut. He gets right behind the underneath zone defenders, running right into a gap for quarterback Josh McCown to throw an excellent pass right in the space. He makes a clean catch in the open space and runs up field for a few more yards.

Q2 0:32: 14-yard reception

In this play, Terrelle Pryor is lined up in the right slot against Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins. Jenkins is in single-press man coverage versus Pryor with two deep safeties over top. Pryor is running a designed in route about ten yards up field.

The Browns receiver starts running up field, but with a little slant to the right. This direction fools Jenkins, making him think Pryor is running toward the sideline or deep down field. Pryor makes a quick cut behind Jenkins, who is running ahead of him over the top. Jenkins is not in the right position to transition inside, allowing the receiver to gain separation in his route across the middle of the field. Pryor easily catches the pass without any real contact with a Giants defender.

Q3 11:16: 9-yard reception

In this play, Pryor is lined up on the far right after he motions across the formation before the play. He is covered by Giants cornerback Eli Apple, who is in off-man coverage against Pryor. Pryor is running a comeback route about ten yards up field. Pryor runs full speed up field, but at about ten yards, he makes a great, quick cut back towards the ball.

The cut gives the receiver a huge separation from the corner, allowing Pryor to continue to come back to the ball and get his feet in bounds to make the catch. He is able to make the boundary catch without any sort of contact from the defender.

Q3 7:30: 18-yard reception

In this play, Terrelle Pryor is lined up in the left slot position. The Giants are defending the play with man coverage on the two receivers and the tight end, the three linebackers playing in zone coverage underneath, and a deep safety covering over top. Pryor is running a designed post route about 15 yards down field. He runs around Giants cornerback Coty Sensabaugh, who is covering him in press coverage. Pryor then moves a little inside, gaining separation from the cornerback. Once he is a few yards past the underneath linebacker, the receiver breaks inside to a wide open gap in the zone.

Pryor leaves the corner behind, after the corner seems to think he is getting help inside or is in a different coverage then the rest of the secondary. Pryor makes it an easy throw for quarterback Josh McCown to connect with him. The only problem with the play is that Pryor tried to do too much rather than shooting up field, he went backwards to try and make a play. He ended up losing a few yards because of it. He showed good awareness to find the open gap in the zone.

Q4 12:47: 54-yard reception

In this final play, Terrelle Pryor is lined up on the numbers on the right side of the field. The Giants are covering the two receivers with press man coverage. Pryor is designed to run a streak route right down the field. New York has two safeties on the play, but the safety on the right is focused on the backfield. He is eliminated from the play when he bites too hard on the play action. This leaves only one safety covering over top, but he is shaded to the left and is focused on the receiver on the left after the corner in man coverage on the receiver falls beneath the receiver, making the safety the over top coverage.

This leaves Pryor one-on-one with cornerback Eli Apple. Pryor wins the battle by gaining the inside leverage against his fellow former Buckeye. The middle of the field is wide open, so Pryor smartly goes to the inside of Apple (something he would have never done a year earlier). Pryor also runs past Apple a little bit, too. Quarterback Josh McCown throws a great pass right in stride to Pryor for a big play.

Highlight of the Game

The highlight of the game versus the New York Giants was the Browns defense. The Browns defense has shown a lot of improvement over the last couple weeks and it continued against the Giants. The defense held New York to just 21 points and 296 yards of total offense. The Browns actually outgained the Giants by 47 yards. The Browns young defenders like Chrisitian Kirksey, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, Carl Nassib and others played well. It is an improving unit.

Lowlight of the Game

The lowlight of the game versus New York Giants was the Browns red zone offense. On Sunday, the Browns were only able to score a touchdown on one of their three trips to the red zone. The Browns lack of a rushing attack hurt their red zone offense as it is difficult to throw in the shortened field, making the run game essential to getting the touchdown. The Browns need to be able to convert their chances into touchdowns in order to win their first game of the season.